Voters in Tigard-Tualatin approve property taxes to fund teachers; school funding measure in Oregon City and Parkrose more uncertain

Voters in the Tigard-Tualatin School District approved a measure to fund teaching positions Tuesday, while votes in two other metro area districts remained too close to call.

Voters in Tigard-Tualatin renewed their district's local operating levy for another five years. Partial returns as of 8 p.m. showed the levy passing with 71% of the vote.

The measure will provide $67 million to support operations in the 11,600-student district, including funding about 100 teaching positions.

The district first passed its levy in 2000 and voters have regularly re-upped it. For a home in the district that has an average assessed value of $300,000, homeowners will continue to pay about $300 a year.

Live Results Page | Election Live Updates

Meanwhile, a vote in Oregon City that would have raised property taxes to pay for a general obligation bond to allow their 7,200-student school district to renovate its five aging elementary school buildings remained too close to call. The bond would also allow the district to expand its career-technical education facilities for older students.

Partial returns as of 8 p.m. showed the bond had support from 49% of voters, while 51% were opposed.

Should the bond pass, property owners in the Oregon City School District will pay $1.20 per every $1,000 of assessed property, which equates to about $324 a year on a home with a median assessed value of around $270,000. That is on top of the roughly $329 annually that property owners are paying to retire the previous bonds, raising their bill to support the school district to about $653 per year.

And in the Parkrose School District , voters appeared to be leaning against approving an operating levy that would have taxed property owners $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The measure was drawing support from 46% of voters, with the remaining 54% opposed. Should the measure eventually pass, it means that a homeowner with an average assessed property value of $250,000 would pay about $312 a year, according to the district.

District leaders said that would have raised $19.1 million over five years to pay for 28 teachers and educational assistants annually.

at